I am writing this on our 21st day on the road. Not that long
yet….just a nice extended vacation time. But it does feel a bit like it has
been forever.
I am sitting in Banff National Park in Canada (approx. 3000
miles away from HHI) without Internet or cell phone reception. Means I am still
not sure if or when I will be able to publish this.
Ever since we made it to the Rocky Mountains we are taking
it a bit slower with a bit more time in every campground to actually experience
life! We figured out that we have to stay at least 3 nights in one campground
to make life (homeschooling, household like laundry, grocery shopping, cooking,
hiking, exploring) work. The more often we break up camp the more stressful it
gets. You kind of never really arrive or settle, never get used to the place,
never meet people to talk to or play (Benjamin). Three to four nights in one
place seems to be the magic number. After that time you might feel like leaving
again and finding another great place to stay! That is, IF your campground is
great and you really feel “home”. Many of the private campgrounds are really
crowded and tight with other RVs only feet away from our own which just
truthfully does NOT feel good at all. The most space, privacy and beauty we
find inside the National Parks. Downside there is, that we often have to
boondock, means without electric power, water or sewer. For this we do have the
holding tanks for fresh water, black and grey water, also 4 batteries and gas
to cook and heat. You have to watch the amount of water and electricity you
use, or you run dry!
The other day, after boondocking in Glacier NP we sorrow
beginners woke up to the beeping of the fridge which indicated that we were out
of gas (did not know that both gas bottles are used simultaneously) which meant
we had no way to cook or heat! Since Manfred did not want to give up on his hot
coffee in the morning, he insisted his batteries and inverter are able to run
the microwave to boil some water! I was doubtful…This try actually blew the 300
Amp fuse of the batteries and we were out of battery power as well!!! As I
said: bloody beginners! Now, to be able to move away our big rig to get gas and
hopefully a new fuse and to make it to our new campsite we actually needed
battery power in the first place: the slides only move in with battery power
and to retract the jacks (we were standing on) we needed battery power as well…
Now what??? Luckily my husband is very, very versatile and knowledgeable so he
was able to bridge the broken fuse with another piece of cable that allowed us
to pull a max. of 30 Amp, before we could potentially start a camper fire.
Thank God each slide out pulled a bit under 30 Amp so we were able to pull in
the slides and retract the jacks and actually made it out of the campground in
one piece J.
Replacing a 300 Amp fuse is another story: we stopped at
several car and RV dealers in Canada but no one could help us! So far we are
still driving and camping with the broken and bridged fuse. We were able to
have our gas tanks filled right outside of our Glacier campground at another RV
park that did provide gas.
This funny and a bit deplorable story sidetracked me from
the original challenge to find THE ONE campground where everything is just
right! Where you have space, great nature, quiet, nice (not too close)
neighbors, all hook-ups and possibly Internet and cell phone reception.
Finding THE ONE seems to be as challenging as meeting THE
ONE Santa Claus at Christmas, possibly because they both do not exist!
But I need to admit that we are really close right now!
Great spacious campsite, all hook-ups and elk sharing our campsite! Only the
view of the mountains, cell phone reception and Internet are missing! But I
guess we should not ask for too much!
Overall I feel much better with a bit slower pace and time
for all the things that need to be done and time to sit and read, think, talk,
play or write a new blog. This is what I tremendously enjoy!
Do you see how close to our RV the elk is?
There are 2 elk in the pic! One lay down just by our picnic table!
You're all in my prayers! What wonderful pictures!
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